School Counselors and Life Coaches for Kids Support Child Mental Health
While School Counselors are a familiar resource for parents who are seeking support for their children, life coaches for kids are an effective resource that many parents – and school counselors – are not aware of!
Life coaches for kids help kids develop mindset skills that support mental fitness and protect child mental health.
Child life coaches teach kids how to use the power of their minds to:
- Create strong self-esteem
- Build self-confidence
- Make good decisions
- Build resilience
- And so much more.
Kids Build Strong Neural Pathways so They Feel Confident Learning Something New
How are School Counselors and WISDOM Coaches Working Together?
Adventures in Wisdom has certified hundreds of life coaches for kids (WISDOM Coaches), in over 30 countries, to teach mindset skills to kids using stories, activities and a proven STORY coaching process.
- School counselors are referring parents to certified WISDOM Coaches – to provide additional support to kids. In these cases, the WISDOM Coach is part of the child’s team.
- School counselors are also becoming WISDOM Coaches themselves – so that they can add the coaching stories, activities and language to their school counseling tool kit. Some school counselors extend their work with kids after school, during the summer and school holidays, by having their own life coaching for kids business.
Examples of School Counselors and WISDOM Coaches working better together
Here are excerpts from experiences that four WISDOM Coaches shared.
These coaches are either school counselors themselves or are working as part of a child’s team.
Click here to read more about what they had to say on this page that celebrates National School Counseling Week.
Cindy Young – School Counselor and WISDOM Coach® – South Carolina
Cindy Young – School Counselor and WISDOM Coach
Cindy Young has worked with children for over 15 years, has been a school counselor for 3 years, and a certified WISDOM Coach® for 6 months. She works with kids aged 5-12 in a public school in South Carolina.
She says, “Working with kids is my passion because mentally healthy kids become mentally healthy adults!”
She adds, “I like to incorporate the MindPower skills when working with my students. Teaching them about ‘power shifting’ to move past disappointments has been very beneficial and is the skill I teach most. Kids seem to like the terminology used to help identify what they are feeling. For instance, ‘the grungies’ helps them to identify and articulate any negative feelings.”*
“I think school counselors can benefit from being a WISDOM Coach because it gives you a different outlet and helpful tools to continue helping children become their absolute best!”
Dixie-Ann Harris – WISDOM Coach® – Louisiana
Dixie-Ann Harris – WISDOM Coach
Dixie-Ann Harris has been a WISDOM Coach® since 2017. She collaborated with a school counselor to help a 7-year-old girl in 2021.
The child was described as “shy” and “anxious” and had begun to have frequent tantrums with her parents.
The girl learned these mindset skills with Dixie-Ann:
- Creating possibilities
- Power shifting for empowerment
- Creating soaring self esteem
- Creating self-confidence
- Choosing self-talk
- Self-coaching for daily mastery
- Using the power visualization
- Using affirmations
- Overcoming fears
- Managing change
The result? Dixie-Ann says, “If I hadn’t had the opportunity to interact with ‘Christie’ before our work together, I may not have recognized her six weeks later. From a shy girl who spent her time coloring at a social event, while other kids ran from one activity to another, to an enthusiastic child who could self coach (and coach her mom). Her shift to empowerment was beautiful to experience!”
“Her shyness and lack of confidence was leading her to underperform in the classroom, which was the reason the counselor was called in. By the end of the six weeks of coaching, her sessions with the counselor were no longer needed. She had learned to delicately step out of her comfort zone. Her teacher’s feedback was, ‘Although Christie isn’t raising her hand to answer questions in the classroom, she no longer cries or goes into hysterics when she’s called on to give a response.’ This was major progress for her.
Rute Teixeira – School Counselor and WISDOM Coach® – Portugal
Rute Teixeira – School Counselor and WISDOM Coach
Rute Teixeira has been a School Counselor for two years and a WISDOM Coach® since 2017. She teaches at a public school in Portugal, where she works with kids 6-10 years old.
Rute uses the Adventures in Wisdom stories to help kids learn mindset skills and then helps kids practice the skills through art, music, short films, etc. She says that what kids love most is that “they love the fact that they can relate to the events and characters in the stories and they particularly love the fables.”
Rute adds that there is a benefit for the coach who is working with the child as well. She says, “The curriculum provides a structure to teach and train the kids on these subjects (mindset skills), and it also aids our own (the coach’s) personal training and transformation.”
In addition to working with children in her role as a school counselor, Rute also coaches children outside of school, which extends her impact on kids and extends her livelihood.
Pamela Olsen – Teacher and WISDOM Coach® – Florida
Pamela Olsen – Teacher and WISDOM Coach
Pamela Olsen is a teacher at a private Christian school in Florida and she has been a certified WISDOM Coach® since 2019.
Pamela’s relationship with the school counselor is that she is an additional resource who can help extend the support that students have access to. She’s part of a child’s team!
Pamela also supports students in her school by running two after school programs where she teaches mindset skills to kids.
“The first program I ran was MindPower. It was so well-received that I’m now doing a longer program that teaches all 27 mindset skills.”
“The magical thing about this program is seeing the students eyes sparkle when they realize they can be in their power and know it’s going to be awesome.”
WISDOM Coach Pamela uses art projects to reinforce kids’ understanding of the mindset skills of Resilience and Managing Mistakes.
How You Can Help School Counselors and Life Coaches for Kids work Better Together to Help Kids
- If you’re a school counselor who wants to learn more about adding story-based mindset skills and life coaching for kids to your tool box, download this document.
- If you’re a school counselor who would like to find a WISDOM Coach® to team up with, you can search the WISDOM Coach Directory or complete the Connect with a Coach form and submit a query for coaches to respond to. (Most WISDOM Coaches work online, so working remotely together is a possibility).
- If you’d like to see what an Adventure in Wisdom coaching story and skill book is like, request the free story and skill book that teaches the mindset skill of Self-talk here.
About Adventures in Wisdom
Adventures in Wisdom has trained coaches since 2013 and has Certified WISDOM Coaches in over 30 countries who are working with children both in person and online. Most of our coaches have backgrounds in life coaching (for adults), education, or counseling/therapy/social work.
To learn more about working with a children’s coach or becoming a life coach please visit https://adventuresinwisdom.com/.
Adventure well my friend!
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Copyright (C) 2011 – 2022 Renaye Thornborrow. All Rights Reserved.
Want to empower your own children? Click here to learn more about our “life coaching for kids” home study program! Want to coach kids? Click here to watch “How You Can Get Started as a Life Coach for Kids” and Apply
